5T: Chinese Food Heritage Event, Craft Beer Night

Five Things You Need to Know Today" is a Patch column that provides readers with essential, daily information at a glance. 

Today is Thursday, March 21. Here are 5 things you need to know:

• Chance of snow: Looks like a gray day today. According to the National Weather Service we can expect a chance of snow, mainly after 11 a.m., with little to no accumulation expected. Otherwise mostly cloudy with a high near 38 degrees. Chance of snow showers tonight with little to now accumulation expected. Otherwise mostly cloudy with a low around 26 degrees. 

• Public meetings: The Burlington Committee Scholarship Foundation is meeting at 5 p.m. in the main hearing room at Town Hall. The Planning Board is meeting at 7:30 p.m. in the main hearing room at Town Hall.

• Great decisions: The Burlington Public Library is hosting a "Great Decisions 2013: China in Africa" discussion at 10:30 a.m. today. The discussions will be led by Dr. Craig Brandt, a former naval officer who has been a professor at the Air Force Institute of Technology and dean of academic affairs at the Defense Institute of Security Assistance Management. Adults of all levels of knowledge and background are welcome to attend.

• Chinese Culinary Heritage: The Library is also hosting an event "Chinese Culinary Heritage: Secret to a Better Lifestyle" as part of the Burliington Reads 2013 program at 7 p.m. today. Join Jim Becker of Boston Food Tours to a memorable introduction to the benefits of a traditional Chinese diet. The line between food and medicine is very thin: we in the West may have forgotten this, but this wisdom is retained in the traditional Asian culinary heritage. Learn how the American diet differs, and how you can improve your health.

• Craft beer: Cafe Escadrille is holding a Craft Beer Night at 5:30 p.m. this evening. Sample more than a dozen craft beers from around the country along with some great beer-friendly Cafe Escadrille food. Cost is $15. Click here for more information.